


Through and Through

by ThirtySixSaveFiles



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Guns, M/M, Rhys as Jack's PA, Torture, kiss meme, questionable first-aid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 22:20:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6131941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirtySixSaveFiles/pseuds/ThirtySixSaveFiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet walk through the Hub of Heroism suddenly isn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through and Through

**Author's Note:**

> Cleaned up kiss meme prompt for Kiennan: "kisses because everything hurts right now including being loved by you but you’re also the only thing that makes it feel better." Doesn't _quite_ fit the prompt - more hurt/comfort than angst - but this is what came out, so.

At first Rhys doesn’t feel the pain, only the impact, which spins him just enough that he stumbles into Jack.

Then  _ everything _ hurts, and Rhys sees the blood spattering Jack’s jacket just as Rhys’ legs go out from under him, and he puts two and two together and comes up with  _ oh, I’ve been shot _ .

The Hub of Heroism is loud, but not so loud that the echoes of a gunshot go unnoticed; the crowd - which had already been giving Rhys and Jack a wide berth - melts away in a tide of of scrambling, screaming people, revealing a man holding a pistol in two shaking hands, eyes wide and crazed. His suit is disheveled, jacket open, collar undone, Hyperion-issued tie hanging loosely around his neck.

Oh great. Rhys has been shot by a fucking  _ disgruntled employee _ .

Rhys hears Jack hiss in a breath. Jack’s hand clamps down hard on Rhys’ shoulder as he goes down, and Jack shoves Rhys roughly in the direction of a nearby planter. The air leaves Rhys’ lungs in a pained gasp as his back hits the concrete and he slides to the floor, but he’s not so out of it yet that he doesn’t see Jack draw and fire his own pistol in one smooth motion.

The first shot takes the attacker through the shoulder. The man grunts, gun dropping from the now useless arm. Jack fires again as he advances, left hand coming up to steady his grip, and the second shot blasts away the man’s kneecap, buckling the leg and dropping the would-be-assassin to the ground. He screams when his wounded knee hits the floor, but it cuts off with a gurgle as Jack’s pistol catches him across the face. Jack plants a foot in the guy’s chest and shoves, and the man flies backwards, leaving trails of red behind when he skids to a stop.

Jack kicks the attacker’s gun away and stands over the man, pistol pointed squarely at his head, but the guy doesn’t look like much of a threat anymore, Rhys thinks fuzzily, not screaming and crying like that. Jack says something that Rhys doesn’t quite catch, and when he gets no response beyond cries of pain, Jack lifts one foot and  _ grinds _ it down on the attacker’s wounded shoulder. The man  _ shrieks _ at that, clawing at Jack’s foot with his good arm. Rhys can’t see Jack’s face like this, and as he slowly slides sideways he thinks vaguely that Jack’s never going be able to get the blood out of those shoes.

The next things he knows is that he’s being pulled upright again, and Jack’s face swims into view, brows knit together and the lines of his face drawn tight. He’s saying something, but Rhys can’t make the words make any sense, and he thinks things might be better if he just closes his eyes for a minute.

His eyes shoot open again as pain blossoms fresh and bright in his side, and the world shocks back into focus with agonizing clarity.

“-there we go, stay with me Rhysie, come on, eyes on me babe.” Jack’s voice filters through the roaring in Rhys’ ears, and one of Jack’s hands comes up to grip Rhys’ jaw even as the other presses down harder against the wound in Rhys’ side. Jack turns his head to shout behind him - “where the fuck is my Anshin, hurry it up, asswipes” - but Rhys is having trouble focusing on much beyond Jack’s hands on him.

Someone in an anonymous Hyperion Security uniform - when did they get here? - slaps an unnaturally pink cylinder with a  _ really _ long needle into Jack’s waiting hand. Jack pulls the cap off with his teeth and stabs that  _ really very long _ needle unceremoniously into Rhys’ thigh. Rhys’  whole body jerks as he’s introduced to new and exciting levels of pain - it hurts, it hurts, it  _ hurts _ \- and he nearly collapses forward into Jack’s arms as the pain localizes in his side where his flesh is knitting itself back together.

Jack’s hands hold him up, though, and as the hurt subsides a little Jack rubs his thumb over the shiny pink new skin on Rhys’ side. Jack laughs short and sharp with relief. He pulls Rhys’ head up, and Rhys’s body is still trying to sort through all the sensation but he feels clearly the warm and sticky slide of Jack’s hand still wet with Rhys’ blood on his jaw, and Jack’s lips pressing hard and desperate against his.

Jacks pulls away and leans his forehead against Rhys’. “Good thing he was such a terrible shot, huh, buttercup? Otherwise we might have been in real trouble.” Rhys doesn’t want to know what Jack thinks is _ real trouble _ if getting shot in the middle of Helios doesn’t qualify, but he’s not going to argue, not with Jack’s hands still holding him just this side of too tightly.

“Alright, sugar pie. On your feet.” Jack stands, and Rhys tries to follow him, he really does, but his legs still aren’t working quite right. Jack lets out a little “tch” that sounds far less exasperated than he probably wants it to, and leans down to scoop Rhys into his arms in a way that Rhys would be way more embarrassed about if he hadn’t just  _ almost died _ . Just going from sitting to sort-of-vertical is enough to make his head spin, and suddenly not having to walk sounds  _ great _ .

“Okay princess, next stop, Medical.” Jacks turns with Rhys in his arms to address the Hyperion Security team surrounding the man on the ground, who’s still moaning faintly. Rhys is vaguely impressed - most people aren’t conscious when Handsome Jack gets done with them.

“Get that meat-bag to the holding cells,” Jack bites out. “And tell the med team that if they let him die, they might as well save me the trouble and airlock themselves.”

Ah. Not done, then.

Rhys closes his eyes as Jack turns away again, flanked by two Security officers. Distantly he can hear the rest of the team dragging the hapless gunman none-too-gently away.

“Hey.” Rhys brings a hand up and catches the front of Jack’s jacket.

“Yeah?” Jack’s voice is pitched low, just between the two of them.

“Don’t go easy on him. The blood is going to be a bitch to get out of my servos.” Rhys hears his voice harden. “And find out what fuckup let the Dynamic prototype out of the labs.”

“Always on the job, huh?” Jack chuckles and rubs his cheek briefly against the top of Rhys’ head. “Anything for you, pumpkin.” 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at [ThirtySixSaveFiles](http://thirtysixsavefiles.tumblr.com)!


End file.
